It’s hard to believe that just four months ago, the country was witnessing scenes of unbridled joy at the Royal Wedding. Now our cities are burning, our social fabric has been mauled, our government is powerless.

With the Olympics just round the corner, we can only ask ourselves: “Has the flame been extinguished before it has even been lit?”

As scenes of hope start to emerge, I sincerely hope not. Who would have thought that a simple broom and a cup of tea would portray such humanity in the midst of all this destruction?

News today in Manchester has reported that cleaners outweighed last night’s looters by 10 to one. Let’s just hope that our cities can make more noise together than apart. With 12 months until the Olympic torch starts its march to London there is a huge mountain to climb, but scenes of such hope show that the UK could just still emerge from the ashes!